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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

I love children's artwork! I really, really LOVE it! You wouldn't believe the boxes of drawings I've saved over the years. If you're new to this blog, you'll have to check out THIS POST and THIS POST. Really, to fully appreciate kids' art, you need to read these. I'll wait... (whistling.....) Done? See? I knew you wouldn't be disappointed!

Let me get you up-to-date on Brooklyn's artwork these days. This is a huge birthday cake with candles on top. There are hearts because Brooklyn's a girl and girls draw hearts. It's a rule. "I love you, Mom" was written by her sister, Lexi. Brooklyn added her own message at the bottom. And everyone knows that "PCPb" means, "I love you, Mama! Thank you for braiding my hair today!" It does! The artist told me herself!

This one is a drawing of me. I'm wearing a crown. You know, because all girls are princesses.

I've tried and tried to teach the kids that the ONLY medium they're allowed to use at home is paper. I've tried. But sometimes I find art on other surfaces...

Yep, I think it's pretty safe to say that was Brooklyn's masterpiece. What gave it away, you ask? She signed her name right below it! Yeah.

Now, let's take a look at some of Clay's drawings. This is a pig. With fangs. And scars on his face. And a hat. And crazy hair that explodes when he takes his hat off. Don't believe me? Ask Clay.

Here we have a lovely ocean scene. A girl is surfing. Below the surface of the waves, exists an assortment of aquatic wildlife. And, of course, a couple divers being eaten by sharks.

And talk about Rodents of Unusual Size! Here we have a giant mouse being shot at. Unfortunately the guys in the back don't have such great aim. Yeah, Clay's perfectly well adjusted. Really. It's a boy thing. Girls have to draw hearts and rainbows and boys have to draw stuff getting blown up. It's the rule. I don't make this stuff up.>

Obviously, the guys with bad aim in Clay's drawing are in cahoots with the giant mouse. And the mouse doesn't look like he's suffering from what shots he is taking. But I'm glad to know my boys aren't the only ones drawing things blowing up and bleeding. At least I'll have princess crowns and hearts to look forward to once my toddler's scribbles start looking like something recognizable. :)

All boys understand the concept of friendly fire. Clay's depiction of one of the mouse hunters getting "gently massaged by lead projectiles" by his friend is yet another example of instinctual boy knowledge.

Although the shark feeding frenzy one creeped me out a little when I realized the surfer girl was purposely chumming the water...

There is currently crayon all over my TV that I've been too lazy to try and wash off. My littlest one's middle name is Monet, and trust me, she lives up to her name. And just like Brooklyn, paper is not her medium of choice.

When my oldest was in grade school he loved hunting. They had to write or draw in their journal everyday. He ALWAYS drew beautiful pictures of hunting scenes and/or wrote stories about it. I was in awe of how much he was interested and how well he drew for his age. My girlfriend even asked him to draw something with a deer on it for her, he did and she still has it hanging up to this very day. We got a phone call from the school and they wanted to have an 'emergency conference' that evening. They also let me know that the counselor that goes around to all the elementary schools would be there. We were worried. Very worried. They wanted to talk about his drawings and his stories. They felt it was a sign of something being wrong with him. They said his mind was working at a 'horror' level. We were flabbergasted. I don't remember everything we said. But I do remember they made him stop drawing anything to do with hunting. Which I can kind of understand with the rule of 'zero tolerance'. His journals were never again done with so much love and time...it was very sad to us that they took that away from him. I will have to say at home he drew MANY pictures to keep here and I have kept EVERY single one of them!

Like you said, it's a boy thing. It's the rule. I will let you know he is a fine 17yr old. There is NOTHING wrong with him at all, now whether that's because there never was or because the school made him stop drawing/writing about that subject is for certain individuals to decide. =)

Boy I hope that wasn't sharpie on the television and that you have a HUGE supply of Magic Erasers on hand at all times. You have to laugh because the alternative is crying or mass hysteria or murder and the kids need their mama.

Oh my! That is a very expensive marker board you have. lol! I had no idea Brooklyn's artistic expression had been so extensive! You did an awesome job with disaster recovery!! Your next post should be on how to remove permanent marker from your big screen TV without ruining it. Inquiring minds want know! Next time you should just have her finish coloring the rest of the screen purple and adjust the color settings to compensate ;)

My youngest (12) has less than desirable handwriting. I think it's from the fact that when he was a toddler & a crayon, marker or pencil entered the sweet little hands of his they immediatley made contact w/ the nearest wall. Needless to say he didn't get to "draw" very often till he reached kindergarten age. Come to think of it, I think it's way past time to paint over all those crayon marks in his room.

I so likes childrens art. I'm a primary school art teacher, so it is what drives me to do my job.And also when 7 year old girl student tells me : " you are so beautiful mrs." I know she says it to every teachers, but it always makes my day.

Dawn, these are BY FAR by favorite posts of yours. I went back and read the two older ones and they made me laugh just as hard as they did the first time. As a mom of three, I have so much material just not the time to share it :) Thanks for taking the time to share yours with us!